Actively Recruit an Excellent and Diverse Pool of Applicants
Importance of gender diversity:
Diversity strengthens the University’s faculty and staff by increasing innovation and productivity
Across disciplines, diverse intellectual viewpoints, cognitive styles, scholarship and personalities invigorate
Diversity ensures that students are exposed to a wide breadth of ideas and a dynamic intellectual community
Diversity and hiring for excellence go together:
The search process should ensure that there are outstanding women and minorities in the applicant pool
Early in the process define the criteria for “best”: for the department, for the university, and for students
Each person hired should know that they were selected for their excellent credentials and programmatic fit
Recruit strategically to build a diverse pool of candidates before the search even starts:
Start working to identify a diverse pool of potential applicants now; always be in search mode
Encourage faculty attending professional conferences or giving talks at other universities to discover and contact potential candidates for present and future positions
Bring in potential candidates as seminar speakers
Make an effort to identify contacts who have diverse backgrounds or experiences to help reach highly qualified women/minority candidates
Actively recruit women and minority graduate students to expand the future pool of candidates
Continue to build a diverse pool of candidates throughout the search:
Make calls and send e-mails or letters to a wide range of contacts asking for potential candidates
Call potential candidates directly to encourage them to apply
Writing the Ad:
Write the “Description of Work” that will appear on PeopleAdmin to match the ad that you will disseminate. This information source is becoming a major site for information for potential candidates.
The broadest criteria possible, within the context of the department’s strategic plan, attracts the broadest range of candidates.
Raise Awareness of Implicit Bias
Everyone:
Recognize we all carry unwitting, unwanted, biases and assumptions
Recognize that implicit bias influences our evaluations of candidates, regardless of the evaluator's gender
Take Time:
Studies show that when evaluators worked under time pressure or distractions they gave lower ratings to women than to men with the same qualifications
Letters as Opinions:
Recommendation letters may exhibit implicit bias; e.g. letters for women are often shorter, provide fewer references to C.V. or make personal references
Applicant Pool:
Studies have shown that when the applicant pool contained a smaller proportion of women, an increased preference was given for male candidates over female candidates with the same qualifications
Candidates following nontraditional career paths and/or coming from less prestigious institutions can be undervalued
Key Points:
Learn about and discuss research on implicit bias and work to minimize its influence
Develop consistent and inclusive evaluation criteria
Spend sufficient time evaluating application
Actively recruit a broad and diverse applicant pool
Do not depend only on recommendation letters or the prestige of the candidate's institution
Periodically re-evaluate your decisions to determine if unconscious biases may be influencing the process.
Run an Effective and Efficient Search
Preliminary Considerations:
Search committees are required to have diverse composition, i.e. include women and minority members. Each member must have completed the University mandated training program within 3 years.
Review state and federal, laws and University policies relating to hiring
Acknowledge importance of search committee members; recognize the value of everyone’s opinion
Discuss the roles and responsibilities of committee members; give an honest estimate of the time involved in the process from initiation of the search through completion
Establish a set of guidelines for review and evaluation of applications
Maintain confidentiality; only the chair of the committee is the spokesperson for the process.
Meetings:
Hold the first meeting well before the application deadline to develop and implement an effective recruitment plan
Actively involve all committee members in discussions and search procedures
Permit adequate time for all members to contribute to discussions
Run an efficient meeting; prepare agenda with time allotment for each application discussed
Consider assigning specific tasks to committee members, e.g. acting as host during the campus interview visit of a candidate
Do not allow any one member to dominate the discussion
Establish that the opinions of every member carries equal weight regardless of rank or position; remind committee members that they are acting as representatives of the department and university, not as representatives of their own discipline or interests
Ask every committee member to evaluate applications in writing; provide forms for this purpose
Ensure a Fair and Thorough Review of Candidate
Initial Application Review:
Establish review evaluation rubric that is inclusive and consistent with the position advertisement
Conduct the review in stages:
Create a “long” short list; if there are a lot of applications, make sure all applications are thoroughly reviewed; as a guideline, spend 15-20 minutes per application file
In review, consider teaching, research, and outreach/service
Take a fresh look at candidates that have been discarded in prior rounds of review to ensure a good candidate was not overlooked
Document reasons for rejecting an application at each level of the review process
Keep detailed notes to become part of the permanent record of the committee’s outcomes
Develop and Implement an Effective interview Process
Consider different methods of interviewing:
Telephone calls
Video conferencing
On site visits
Outline a set of core questions not addressed on the C.V. or in letters/statements regarding:
Philosophy of mentoring students
Research experience and future research directions
Teaching experience and philosophy
Leadership and team building skills and style
Avoid questions and topic areas that are inappropriate:
Attend the Office of Equity, Access and Diversity Programs search committee seminars; consider having the entire department participate. Contact EAD for more detail.
Inappropriate topics include race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, national origin, marital status or family matters and military record
Know that asking these questions may be breaking state and federal laws and university policies regarding discrimination
Educate non-committee members who will interact with the candidate:
The department chair should consider holding a faculty meeting before candidates are interviewed to educate non-committee members
Non-committee members should understand what implicit bias is and how it can impact evaluations
Acquaint them with the core questions to be asked during the interview and assure that they know what not to ask.
Consider providing an evaluation report form and rubric for non-committee members
Non-committee members must maintain confidentiality
The interview process:
Decide who will interview the candidates. Select individuals with broad expertise in the candidate’s area of interest as well as outside it
Provide opportunities for women and minority members and faculty of varying rank to meet the candidate
Ask the candidate whether they would like to meet specific individuals on the faculty, in administration, or from the community
Provide the candidate with a detailed schedule in advance; allow sufficient time for transit between interviews and to see the campus and city.
ADVANCE can help you to develop an information packet to share with all candidates in advance of the interview that contains materials on the University, Lincoln, and other topics of interest
Make the candidate feel welcome
Avoid any mention of the candidate’s ranking in your applicant pool
Treat the candidate with the respect due a potential colleague
Set a time limit for feedback to the search committee
Provide a feedback form (see the ADVANCENebraska website)
After the interviews are complete:
Schedule a meeting of the search committee as soon as possible after interviewing all candidates for the position
Discuss all credentials of the candidate; document reasons resulting in selection of the finalist
Communicate with both successful and unsuccessful candidates in a timely manner